2020 Coastal Management Photo Contest Winners

National Estuaries Week is a time set aside to commemorate the remarkably productive estuaries found throughout the nation. Each year NOAA’s Office for Coastal Management hosts a photo contest to showcase and honor the 29 national estuarine research reserves – in which NOAA partners with state programs, academic institutions, and non-profit organizations – around the country. The photos offer unique perspectives of the research, education, and recreational aspects within these magnificent ecosystems.

Areas We Protect

Fog hanging over the Lower Spring Branch at Rush Ranch, San Francisco Bay National Estuarine Research Reserve.

airweather Glacier to the north of Lituya Bay, Alaska.

The serenity of the sea and all its underwater denizens, Hawaii.

Recreation

Cliff divers at sunset, Hawaii.

Sunrise fishing along channel, Florida.

Sleeping Bear National Lakeshore hike, Michigan.

Coastal Hazards

Storm coming in, Mission- Aransas National Estuarine Research Reserve.

Late spring on Lake Ontario during the high water event, New York.

Marine Debris

One man’s trash is another man’s treasure – glass floats, Hawaii.

Monkey’s knuckle, Mission-Aransas National Estuarine Research Reserve.

Buoy washed up in high tide with Sargassum, Florida.

Public Access

Through the dunes and into the sea! New Jersey.

Sunrise and newly constructed bridge in the Lower Spring Branch at Rush Ranch, San Francisco Bay National Estuarine Research Reserve.

Ocean Planning

Coral restoration post-Hurricane Maria in Culebra, Puerto Rico.

Economics

Irish Boat Shop, a Michigan clean marina, Michigan.

Honorary Mentions

California state fish photographed in Channel Islands, California.

Morning light and fog in the Lower Spring Branch at Rush Ranch, San Francisco Bay National Estuarine Research Reserve.

Morning frost at Lower Spring Branch at Rush Ranch, San Francisco Bay National Estuarine Research Reserve.

Egret on dock with baby terrapin on its beak, Maryland.

Looking north to Estero Bay Aquatic Preserve, Florida.

A nudibranch found in the rocky intertidal habitat of Seal Rock, Oregon.